Sea King

Daniel Deitz · Oct 15, 2024

I have a Sea King aluminum boat. It is a 1959. I have been told that Starcraft made it, and then badged as a Sea King. I'm trying to identify the model. I was directed to Fiberglassics.com and then to the Aluminum boat search. My boat appears to be a Speed Queen or a Seafarer, both 14' length 63" beam. There is a code called 'TYPE'. For my year Types are CR, RB or U. The Speed Queen is TYPE RB and the Seafarer is U. I don't know what these codes represent. My boat has a steering wheel and windshield. Any suggestions?

airshot · Oct 16, 2024

Just having a simple description makes it difficult to say, pics might help. Back in the 60-70's and even into the 80's lots of off brand aluminum boats were made by popular/ big name boat mfgrs. Back in the 90's I owned a Northwood aluminum boat, built in a Starcraft plant along side their own brand. Some hardware and slightly thinner materials were used. Could not tell them apart unless you had a keen eye. Most often pictures or hull ID numbers are the only way to figure out who made it.

Daniel Deitz · Oct 16, 2024

This is a fair profile shot of my boat. I've attached the list identifying 1958 and 1959 Starcraft boats. My question is no IF it's a Starcraft, all research I've done indicates it is. My question is how to identify it using this list. I know my length, my beam, and the height of the transom. My confusion is what the letter TYPE identifiers represent; CR, RB and U. Thanks in advance.

airshot · Oct 16, 2024

Your boat could have been made in a Starcraft mfgr plant, but title or paperwork may say otherwise. Very little paperwork was found back in the 50-60's. Often the difference is in the small details and hardware.

airshot · Oct 16, 2024

Do you have a better pic of the cleat on the front deck ? May look familiar...

mbullen · Oct 17, 2024

CR = Cruiser
RB = Runabout
U = Utility

For what it's worth, your boat definitely looks like the Speed Queen equivalent.
Sea King was the private badge for Montgomery Wards which contracted all their products from other vendors (as did all catalog and hardware stores).
Starcraft and Trailorboat carried the majority of their aluminum boat offerings.

Daniel Deitz · Oct 17, 2024

mbullen said:
CR = Cruiser
RB = Runabout
U = Utility

For what it's worth, your boat definitely looks like the Speed Queen equivalent.
Sea King was the private badge for Montgomery Wards which contracted all their products from other vendors (as did all catalog and hardware stores).
Starcraft and Trailorboat carried the majority of their aluminum boat offerings.

Thank you. Now that you identify the abbreviations it makes perfect sense. Based on my information, I felt fairly certain it was a Speed Queen. I wanted to be sure. It's just fun to learn about 65-year-old boats.

Daniel Deitz · Oct 17, 2024

airshot said:
Do you have a better pic of the cleat on the front deck ? May look familiar...

The bow light is a modern recreation. I have no way of knowing what the original light looked like. The boat was 60-plus years old when I got it. As to the cleat, there are no holes around or adjacent to it, I believe it may be original.

Sea Antsy · Oct 17, 2024

.. yea that bow light does not exactly look like a PERKO but obviously styled after one... .. close but IMHO not quite a match.. very kewl boat..

mbullen · Oct 17, 2024

Daniel Deitz said:
The bow light is a modern recreation. I have no way of knowing what the original light looked like. The boat was 60-plus years old when I got it. As to the cleat, there are no holes around or adjacent to it, I believe it may be original.

The cleat appears to be an Attwood product. The bow light looks to be Perko.
In this era, most brightwork, steering, windshields, etc were third party vendors that appeared on all brands according to the dealers, wholesalers, or customers individual contracts or wishes.

airshot · Oct 17, 2024

That cleat and bow cover plate look exactly like the ones on my 1965 Starcraft 16' runabout. If my memory is right I think it was a Vincent model?? Gotta dig out some old paperwork...

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